Dad tries to change policy on public information

An Iowa dad is out to change Iowa’s confidentiality laws so he can find out more about his mentally handicapped son’s life. 30-year-old Daniel Shultz lives in a group home in Newton called “Progress Industries.” For years, his dad, Robert, got weekly reports about what Daniel was doing, and who he was spending time with. But in May of last year, officials from the group home said they could no longer give Robert the names of his son’s friends because of Iowa confidentiality laws.Shultz says his son has trouble communicating, and it helped to know what his son was up to and who his friends were. Shultz has asked State Senator Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny to help sort out the mess. Lamberti says it’s a conflict between the guardianship law and the confidentiality law.Iowa Department of Human Services officials said federal rules prompted the confidentiality crack-down, but a recent letter from the feds has o-kayed giving out the kind of information Shultz wants.Shultz is appealing to parents who have mentally-handicapped kids in group homes, asking them to join him in lobbying legislators to make sure the change is made.